In order to secure a terminal in a terminal-receiving passage of a connector housing, the general approach is to stamp out a resilient lance member from a section of the terminal which mates with an abutting surface in the passage of the connector housing. However, a terminal with such a lance member has a problem in that the lance member is prone to being damaged during handling of the terminal.
Therefore, in the latest connectors, another way of retaining a terminal in a terminal-receiving passage of a housing is employed. That is, a housing is provided with a resilient arm which is integrally formed in the housing and which extends obliquely from one of opposed wall surfaces of the terminal-receiving passage into the passage, the terminal without a lance member being retained in the passage by engaging with a free end of the resilient arm. However, the electrical connector with such resilient arm has a problem in that when a terminal is pulled by excessive force applied to an electrical wire which is connected to the terminal, the arm is possibly bent and deformed to disengage the terminal from the arm if the arm does not have sufficient terminal retention strength.
Especially, this is one of the problems involved in the construction of small-size connectors with resilient arms because, recently, connectors tend to be miniaturized and to limit the space of terminal-receiving passages so that the resilient arm has to be made small and thin; therefore, the terminal retention strength thereof is not sufficient.